Well of course you have! There are lots of foods we eat raw all the time. But here’s a little more information about how raw food could make your diet more interesting and more energy-filled to boost you through the last 12 days of the 30-Day Nutrition Challenge.
Why is Raw Food Good?
Raw food has had zero processing done to it … with the exception of washing and cutting, that is. Think organic fruit and vegetables, nuts and seeds. To turn ingredients into meals, they go through processes. Some are harmless to the nutritious value of the food, like washing or chopping. Some processes can greatly reduce the nutritious value. For example, boiling vegetables can leach many nutrients into the water. There are far worse processes that highly processed foods go through often involving the addition of several nasty preservatives, sugars and sodium.
The theory behind the “Raw food diet” is that cooking and other processing of food decreases the amount of nutrients in it. Whilst this is still debatable, I have found that raw food meals I have eaten leave me feeling lighter and full of energy. Perhaps they are easier to digest, or maybe the ingredients have a higher and more balanced nutritious load. But I believe a raw food meal is perfect for lunch or an afternoon snack. The good news is you probably already know and love a few of them.
Raw Food Meals You Already Know and Love
- Hummus with organic carrot and organic celery sticks
- Organic vegetable juice
- Organic nut and dried organic fruit trail mix
- Organic salad with organic vegetables and olive oil as dressing
- Organic fruit smoothie (to classify as truly “raw” you would need to leave out milk and protein powders)
- Organic almond butter with organic banana and/or organic apples
Which of these snacks have you tried? When did you last have one? How did you feel? I know that when I have one of these snacks, I tend to feel light and energetic. I have very little down time where I feel like I am digesting my food. I feel like I could eat one of the snacks above and then go for a run. That is why I endorse a raw food snack.
What to Make of All This?
Well, the last thing I want you to do is to shun all food, declare war on your saucepan and try to live off of pocket lint and stuff you find growing under rocks. No no no. This is simply my thought on the matter. I strongly believe the best diet you can have is a balanced one. Most diets out there are far too extreme. They work on a nutritional discovery, new or old, and then try to rewrite the system. The Atkins diet is a great example. If the body has no carbohydrate to use as fuel, it will resort to using protein and fat for fuel = weight loss! I don’t believe it is a healthy long-term diet. That being said, a diet with lower carbohydrates (especially less processed and sugar based) would be a great health move for many people. My advice is to learn what you can from all the diets out there and use that knowledge to make smart food choices.
Share Your Experience With Us
We’re so happy you’ve joined us with the 30-Day Challenge!
We’d love to hear how you’re doing and what you’ve enjoyed so far. Join us daily here on our blog and on our Fit Body Full Life Facebook Page!
We recommend checking with your physician before making any changes to your diet.
Image credit: Taiga / 123RF Stock Photo
I do trust all of the ideas you have offered on your post.
They’re really convincing and can certainly work.
Nonetheless, the posts are very brief for starters. May you please extend them a bit from next time?
Thanks for the post.
I have Noticed that the word Organic comes a lot in your post 🙂
which is really inspiring , You Cant eat Raw food If its Not Organic Can you ?
also , Moroccan food , is all about Raw food , as a Moroccan citizen , i eat raw food on a daily basis , Tomato , carrot, Cucumber , lettuce …
Hi,
I have tried the raw food challenge a few times. Not for 30 days but as long as I could. The hard part is your body’s reaction. It starts cleaning itself (just like fasting) and you feel terrible for quite a while. Bladder starts acting up, skin itches, etc. To make it over this hurdle is the hardest part. I think that is where I failed and most others might, too.
But it still is the best idea to eat as much raw as you possibly can.
I certainly agree with the last section of your article as in not to shun the saucepan. Incorporating as many raw foods as possibly is nothing more than eating more healthy foods. But not all foods lose nutrients when steamed or boiled or cooked. Carrots and tomatoes gain nutrients when cooked as compared to eating them raw are just two examples.
I have been eating a lot of raw food lately and while it definitely takes a while to get use to it, I’ve definitely seen the improvement in my health. It beats all the processed options you see at the shops, that’s for sure.
Organic food is good for health.Use organic and keep healthy.